Moab

Our long weekend camping in Moab was a blast. Darius was a pro setting up the tent and staking it securely to the ground- this would come in handy each night the winds howled and thrashed about. Mom was a master packer and kept us stocked with plenty of good food and a perfect supply of water. I was the mastermind behind most of our daily activities, although the three of us took part in their successful execution.



I am now a huge fan of Arches National Park. I feel as if I could wake every day to a hike through the beautiful scenery here.

Despite the guidebooks we took along warning us not to hike in June, July or August due to miserably hot conditions, we chose a couple of different hikes to do each day. I loved Delicate Arch, Pine Tree Arch and the Parade of Elephants by Double Arch- this one ended up being more of a walk than a hike. With 100+ we were glad for a little break!

This is a shot of Darius in the super cool basin around the top of Delicate Arch. This was the first hike we did and probably one of my favorites. The climax was so impressive even though I've seen this image incessantly since moving to Utah. There is a reason why they chose this for the license plates...it is absolutely gorgeous.

Mom and I resting it up at the top. Notice Mom wearing the backpack- we tried to take it from her but she would not give it up. She was paranoid about her back sweat and didn't want anyone to see. Usually she isn't a vain person but for some reason, on this trip she was all kinds of self conscious and uber sensitive to people seeing how much she was sweating. I'm not going to lie, it was super hot and I was incredibly low maintenence- no hair or make up or any other kind of primping. I really tried to embrace the fact that there were enough flamboyantly dressed tourists around that no one would care what we looked like!

Along the banks of the Colorado River, there was a great scenic drive. We saw awesome Petroglyphs, cool rock formations, vibrant colored trees and even some faint dinosaur tracks along this road. Southern Utah really is gorgeous, I love the red rock and bright blue skies.

One thing that took me by suprise was the number of Europeans in Moab. Most all of our neighbors at the campsite were foreingers. Everytime we went to the pool we were inundated by hairy speedo wearing German people. One day Darius and I tried to come up with a collective list of all the German we know. Aside from basic greetings, we came up with half a dozen others- impressive I know. The best of the foreign parade was at the grocery store, every second person I walked by spoke French. I guessed I just never realized how world famous Moab is, not to mention how insanely good the exchange rate would be for Europeans taking American vacations.

Renting the jeep was tons of fun. We followed a "moderate" trail up to somewhere called Gemini Bridges. It took us a couple of hours to cover the rocky terrain. Our trip started out with us climbing a cliff and very close to the edge. I was slightly terrified and I think everyone else was too! Though the rest of the trail was definitely off roading- nothing compared to that first half hour! We hiked on foot that last .2 miles to the arches suspended 300 ft up, it was quite a thrill to walk over them.